Rare finds are just her cup of tea

July 31, 2006|JESSIE MILLIGAN Knight Ridder Newspapers

FORT WORTH, Texas The auction started at $20 a kilogram for the tea rarely seen in the United States. Jennifer Cauble, of Fort Worth, Texas, was determined to be the top bidder. She just didn't realize she would eventually pay what the World Tea Expo says may be the highest price ever paid for black tea at an auction. "$22 ..." It was early spring at the tea expo in Las Vegas, and the auctioneer from Christie's was leading a rare event outside of the tea markets of London and Asia -- a tea auction. "$24 ..." Jennifer Cauble nodded at the auctioneer. She and her husband, architect Fred Cauble, have traveled the world and tasted high-quality tea along the way. She just couldn't find the same quality in Texas. About 150 people were in the auction room. The price grew steadily by increments. "OK. $200 ..." Jennifer Cauble kept nodding. For years, she has wanted to expand her home business and open a tea bar in Fort Worth. Already, she is offering once-a-month, invitation-only tea tastings from her home. Her friends buy loose-leaf tea from her, as well as the tea accessories she offers. "I want to share the experience," Cauble says. "There's a whole world out there besides peach tea." Exotic teas, the kinds of teas a connoisseur drinks, are among the 65 types of tea Cauble sells. Smoky-tasting lapsang souchong from the Fujian province of China, the delicate white Chinese Pai Mu Tan, gunpowder green from Ceylon, a green tea from Japan flavored with cherry and roses. "$325 ..." The price seemed worth it for this tea from India. She'd tasted a sample before bidding. The bids were for the price per kilogram (2.2 pounds), but the lot she was bidding on was 10 kilograms (22 pounds). "I like it. I can buy it and drink it the rest of my life, or take a bath in it," Cauble says. She knew she wanted to be in on this rare auction. "$375 ..." She'd have to pay $3,750 for the whole lot. She bid. The tea attracting all this attention was from Nilgiri, a region in the Blue Mountains of southern India that is lesser known than the Darjeeling and Assam regions in the country's northern reaches. Tea from Nilgiri is hard to find even on the Internet. "$500 ..." Cauble bid. Her business is called Royal Tea, and she is counting on expanding it beyond her Texas Christian University-area home. The entire dining room of her home, once owned by famed 1930s-era TCU football coach Dutch Meyer, is taken over by her tea shop. The generous table in the dark red room is covered with stacks of white linen tea towels for sale alongside books on tea, clear glass and white ceramic teapots and other accessories. "$600 ..." The tea is grown at a reputable estate, Glendale, a 900-acre tea garden at 6,000 feet in the tropical mountain region in India. It's been producing tea since 1835. Cauble bid. And finally, no one else topped her. She bought 22 pounds of tea for $6,000. As the winning bidder, she also received a free trip to the Glendale estate. "My son told me, 'Mom, that's more expensive than drugs,' " she said. The tea, the finest grade produced at the Glendale tea estate, is in Fort Worth. It is in a 16-by-20-inch cardboard box stamped "Product of India." She's yet to open the box or price it so that she can put it on sale at her next tea tasting. She still is scouting out a place to open a shop. A sample recently was brewed in her kitchen. It was clear and golden, delicate and flowery. "It has low notes, mid-notes and high notes," she says of the taste that blossoms on the tongue. "It dances in your mouth."